Title;; Whispers of Love
Genre;; General//Romance//Angst//AU// A bit of comedy
Chapter(s);; 3/5
Pairing(s);; Tamaki x Kyouya && Tamaki x Haruhi
Rating;; T - For now.
Warning(s);; None...
Feedback;; Is love. Comments make my day.
Summary;; Sometimes, it's difficult for someone to realize and admit that they're deeply in love. Especially if you were someone like Ootori Kyouya. Sometimes... some people just need a bit of help to fully realizing it. This someone...was Suou Tamaki.
A/N // Disclaimer;; I, in no way, shape or form do not own Ouran High School Host Club. Though…it doesn't hurt to dream, now does it? D:

Whispers of Love
Chapter 3

"Tadaima, okaa-san,"

He could remember Tamaki's bright smile perfectly when the Suou's eyes met his dark ones just hours ago within the very early morning. Even as he sat at his kitchen table cradling his cup of coffee within his hands and busied himself with gazing at a spot far onto the wall opposite from him the memory was perfectly clear. He hadn't known what else to say to Tamaki's soft, seemingly whispered greeting of returning 'home'. Instead, Kyouya could remember just standing there at a lost of words, his lips parted and his then slowly dying cigarette held between his fingers, ready to be used at any given moment. He only wanted to retrieve another pack of cigarettes from the vending machine and venture back within his room for a good night's slumber after one smoke, but apparently the fates had something else in store for him. He could only guess that Lady Fate had grown tire of him 'running away' and took it within her own hands to push him towards the one person he was trying to avoid ever since the hearing of his return. He wanted to keep postponing their meeting until he was sure that he was ready, but as stated: it just wasn't meant for him to avoid Tamaki. Sure, he had gotten away with meeting the group of friends at the bakery and join them for dinner to enjoy a night of catching up and the sort – it didn't mean he could get away with it the third time around, now did it?

Kyouya sighed softly with a small shake of his head and brought the cup to his lips to finish off his coffee before standing to his feet and place away his dish he had used. Rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, he turned the sink faucet knob to wash his light blue mug only to turn the faucet off and dry the dish to store it away within the cabinet where most of his cups were stored. The only thing he hated about having the privilege to stay home for the Christmas holiday off and away from work was the feeling of there being absolutely nothing he could do around his living quarters. Why, just moments ago he had just woken up and decided to wash up and tidy up a bit around his space, which wasn't much at all to clean up. Anyone that knew the youngest Ootori would say he was very much a tidy person and loved for things to be in order. Even the simplest of things had to be in order to make him feel at ease. Perhaps that was why he was so surprised and completely at lost at words when Tamaki had suddenly appeared like he had done just hours ago – he had no order over the option of wanting to avoid the blonde. It just…happened.

Just like the hug he was engulfed within just sort of…happened?

Oh, how could Kyouya forget? In a way, it happened all so quickly. Short beats of silence had filled between them just previous hours from now after Tamaki had softly said his greetings of return, but due to the silence, and not responding quickly to the blonde's liking, Tamaki had pouted and lunged forward and had nearly made him lose his footing – and glasses – when the blonde clanged to him wrapping his arms tightly around his shoulders as he laughed freely. They were looked at oddly, as per usual. Who wouldn't look at you oddly when you had a blonde foreigner clinging to you, rubbing his cheek against the side of your face while he gushed aloud: "Otou-san missed his okaa-san so much~!" Especially when this supposed 'okaa-san' was very much male. Kyouya, in all truth, had tried to quiet Tamaki, really he had, but Tamaki just would not listen. Instead he hugged him tighter, if possible, wanting the words of 'welcome home' to be said, otherwise he wouldn't plan to let go any time soon. But he had, simply because he had noticed that Kyouya had begun to turn blue in the face; he conversed shortly with him, sitting within the lobby across from him at a small table with cigarette in hand after his short scowling while Tamaki dranked from his canned drink. They didn't speak much, Kyouya could remember – besides talking about how the flavor of the drink Tamaki was drinking reminded him of pure sugar, but addicting none the less. The reason behind the two not talking so much was only under the sake of Kyouya mentioning how tired he was, and only came down stairs to purchase a pack of cigarettes before turning in for the night. Of course Tamaki didn't know that he had taken up the unhealthy lifestyle of cancer sticks, so the shocked expression didn't faze him at all. But before he could leave, Tamaki – being the person that he was – had taken it upon himself to set the time to meet him so they could catch up. He hadn't even asked if he was busy. Instead, he patted Kyouya onto the shoulder with a bright grin and said within a sing-song voice: "I'll see you tomorrow~"

"That stupid idiot," Kyouya murmured with a soft frown while drying his hands with a cloth hand towel before folding it and placing it back within its proper drawer, "always taking it upon himself to schedule a meeting – I could be busy and not come at all." Sarcasm got him no where, he supposed. Though, he could always take his words to heart and not show up at all. After all, he was indeed a busy man and just like every other busy man he had things to do, and people to see. But who else was busy during this time of year besides his own father? A sigh passed through his lips as he halted his actions, scowling softly and the towel he held within his hands. Regardless of wanting to be upset with Tamaki and his 'selfish' ways of taking it upon himself to cut into his "busy schedule", Kyouya couldn't help but feel the soft tugging at the corners of his lips as his eyes softened just the slightest. Only Tamaki could get away with such things – he always did, ever since they were kids stuck within the foolish games that they played. For the briefest of moments, he truly felt like the times where Tamaki always invited himself over to his home to sleepover on some nights without asking him it was okay, bag of clothes in hand and a silly grin that could, perhaps, outshine Japan's rising sun. The memory nearly brought laughter to pass through his lips, and he pursed his lips together with a shake of his head.

"Get a hold of yourself, Kyouya." He told himself with a small sigh as he folded the cloth towel that resided within his hands. It was memories like those that he didn't like remembering, because every time he did find himself just simply remembering would cause that familiar tighten within his chest. It annoyed him, and knowing that he was easily slipping into lingering on past memories mad him scowl at that fact that it was all due to Tamaki's return. And what bothered him the most was that he didn't even know why he felt this way. As mentioned before, Kyouya is a man to have order and full knowledge over how his body reacts – over anything, really – and the reason why he feels certain emotions, yet this... this was something completely out of his hands. He had a reason to push back memories and thoughts of Tamaki, because it only caused him frustration and made him feel betrayed in a way, and hurt, and it was nothing but a distraction that got into the way of his line of work. It was logical to bury himself deeper and deeper in his work for the past years to distract him, and if it weren't for the rest of his group of friends that continued to keep in contact with him the best way they could, he was sure he would have pushed them away by now just as he was trying to do for Tamaki.

It wasn't too long before he noticed that he was too winded up within his own clustered thoughts, and it was then that he decided that he needed to get out and get some fresh air… and a new pack of cigarettes.

______________________

Ever since running into Kyouya, Tamaki just couldn't stop smiling so widely. Just knowing that he was staying into the same apartment building that Kyouya was currently staying in sent excited jitter up and down his spine, and that was odd. In all truth, he didn't want Kyouya to retire to his own room when the other spoke of just going down to the lobby to purchase a pack of cigarettes. He wanted to be selfish and try to get his dark haired friend to stay and chat for just a bit longer. There were so many things Tamaki wanted to say, and so many questions he wanted to ask. He wanted to know of the other's well being and what occupation did he have. Was he successful? Was everything going well since the last time they had seen each other? Yes, Tamaki was sure there were other things that he wanted to ask that he had in mind, but he couldn't remember them at the moment. Not when he was currently laying onto his bed staring at the ceiling of his bedroom, his amethyst coloured orbs taking in the beautiful design that was carved and painted.

A sigh passed through his lips, though his bright smile refused to waver as his body shifted slightly amongst the sheets of his bed. The sun shined brightly through the curtains of the window, yet the rays of the sun dimmed somewhat due to the clouds blocking the sun's rays. He heard that it was suppose to snow today and he could only assume that was the reason of why he felt too lazy to pull himself out of bed, but there was another reason to this reason of being so lazy as well. With Haruhi's arm draped about his nude torso and her breath tickling the crook of his neck, she was just too warm to pull away from. While everyone else was probably up and about, Tamaki was basking into the warmness that warmed his side and neck. He breathed in deeply before exhaling lightly through his parted lips. He didn't want to awake Haruhi. He turned his head slowly to gaze at the sleeping beauty next to him, taking in her mused chocolate locks and her bare shoulders and back that glistened with a faint sheen of perspiration. Last night's activity was something unexpected, especially since he had returned just after meeting again with Kyouya. He didn't even have the chance to tell Haruhi who he had ran into because Haruhi's kisses were planted on him lightly the moment he returned to bed, and her kisses were just enough to distract him from his train of thoughts and goal at hand.

He turned within his spot easily to wrap his arms around Haruhi and bring her closer to his side to plant a lingering kiss at the top of her head, not minding that her tresses tickled his nose and the underside of his chin within the process. Instead, the woman squirmed within her slumber before sighing softly. The action caused a chuckle to pass through Tamaki's lips as he continued to gaze down at the woman he held within his arms. Even though he was anxious to tell Haruhi about Kyouya, he just didn't have the heart to awake her. He could gaze at her all day, but the slight stiffness within his side was urging him to get up and walk around. He grudgingly pulled himself carefully from Haruhi to slip out of bed to search for his pants that were tossed carelessly to the floor just hours ago. Once finding them, he slipped them on and ran his fingers through his mused blonde locks while trudging out of the bedroom to walk around a bit to try and work out the stiffness and ache he felt within his side from laying too long.

After wondering what was there he could do, he eventually found himself within the kitchen area of his and Haruhi's apartment making himself a cup of tea before walking over to peel back the curtains of the window to gaze out of it. Just as he had thought, the sky's clouds were somewhat grey but promised a good snowfall would arrive sooner or later within the day. The blonde took a sip of his tea while keeping his eyes trained onto observing the people below him. It brought a smile to his lips, knowing that he was back within the familiar country where he had partially grown up within. Though France was where his childhood and part of his adolescence laid, Japan was just something he could never forget, let alone completely forget about. Japan was where he had met his first true group of friends; where he met his first and only best friend; where he received his first kiss; where he… first developed his first crush on the same gender. That latter thought caused Tamaki to blink and raise his eyebrows a bit in surprise, not expecting himself to even follow that train of thought, and that same train of thought led him back to thinking about Kyouya – his dark-haired okaa-san. It was a high school crush that made him blush every time he thought about it.

He was silly, he could admit that much. Immature and childish – not much had changed, he could honestly say – was what he was. What did he know about love? He was a teenager that was still going through hormones back then, for Christ's sake. But, no matter how he looked at it, he has always been the type of person to wear his heart onto his sleeve. He was always true with himself about his feelings, even though he might be stuck within denial for a momentary period of time, but he would have eventually come to terms with the fact that he was very much indeed infatuated with a certain calculating dark-haired beauty. He pronounced his feelings the only way he knew best, and that was to keep telling his okaa-san that he loved him every time he would hug Kyouya close to him. But his words were always shot down the minute Kyouya would part his lips to tell him to stop saying things that he didn't mean. Tamaki had lost count of how many times he has actually continuously pronounced his love to Kyouya, and each time he was rejected, causing him to revert to doing something dramatic and sulk within his corner of woe (and sprout mushrooms) while tracing imaginary circles within the floor.

Tamaki smiled to himself, not at all minding the memories unpleasant. To him, the memories were amusing, but also a bit heavy onto his heart. You could only handle being rejected but so many times before the realization that the one that you believe to love doesn't return your feelings. It was hard for Tamaki, believe it or not, but Haruhi had been his answer to getting over the difficult hill of recovering.

"Ohayo," a voice whispered from behind Tamaki as arms encircled his bare torso while a forehead pressed against his back. Warm breathed fanned across his back as Haruhi sighed softly. She had caught him off guard, and Tamaki slightly jumped a bit in startle. He hadn't realized just how deep within his thoughts he was.

"Ohayo~" Tamaki greeted brightly while turning within Haruhi's hold and wrapping his free arm about her form, "sleep well?"

"I suppose." Haruhi yawned, raising her hand to rub at her eyes. Tamaki suppressed the urge to coo at her cute actions and settled with sitting aside his cup of tea onto a coffee table not to far from him and hug the smaller woman close to him tightly. The action caused Haruhi to blink at the sudden action, but she hugged back none the less while her fingers spread against Tamaki's bare back.

"Ne, Haruhi…" Tamaki began, murmuring his words within her dark tresses as he rested his chin onto the crown of her head.

"I ran into Kyouya last night…"

______________

The day went by smoothly, and Kyouya failed to see Tamaki anywhere in sight. It was strange, really. He expected the blonde to pop up in places that Kyouya went to, since the blonde was known for always doing so. In a way, he was slightly expecting the glomp that Tamaki was known for engulfing him in just like the previous night… well, early morning. He didn't really notice, but he was actually spotting for a mop of blonde hair and amethyst eyes amongst the slight crowd within the lobby of the hotel, yet he didn't. He wasn't disappointed, no, not at all. In fact, he wasn't really pinning for the blonde to keep his word of cutting within his schedule to visit him. He didn't have high hopes of expecting a knock onto his apartment room door. If the reason why he had lingered longer than he intended within his apartment room after getting dressed for a day out was because he was waiting for Tamaki to make his appearance then… he refused to believe it. He wanted to laugh at himself the moment he stepped foot outside within the wintry weather. He was sure Tamaki and Haruhi were busy with visiting others. In fact, Kyouya was glad that Tamaki wasn't staying to his word for once. He certainly wouldn't have time to visit him since Kyouya assumed that Tamaki needed to visit his father, and probably talk about business matters.

Yes, Kyouya was not within the least bit upset that Tamaki did not drop by to visit him. It gave him the opportunity to postpone actually sitting and conversing with the couple.

Finding something to do was a bit hard for the youngest Ootori to do, but he did manage to stop by a few stores and simply look around before getting a call from the youngest Hitachiin twin, asking of his whereabouts. Apparently the twins were out Christmas shopping, and Kyouya came to notice that he hadn't even so much thought about Christmas shopping. The original plan was to spend Christmas with his family, but he hadn't put any thought into buying gifts for his family and friends. He was too busy wrapped within work, after all. The only time he managed to surface up from the many clusters of paperwork and his father's demands and the liking was… well, around this time of year. He didn't have much time on his hands like the twins, since they were most likely busy with fashion designs and the sort, yet still managed to know how to spare time for their friends. Since, now, he had a bit time of his hands, he took Kaoru's invitation of spending a bit of time with them at the mall to help pick out presents. Of course he wasn't able to know just what the twins had gotten him, but he was able to know what the others would receive. And as he shopped along with them, he couldn't help but cringe inwardly at hearing Hikaru's murmurings of wondering what to buy Tamaki and Hikaru, since they were staying for Christmas holidays. Even as the three traveled somewhere else to eat at, the twins' conversation remained to be on the subject about Tamaki and Haruhi, and past memories, of course. Yet as Hikaru laughed and poked fun at their Shadow King, Kaoru instantly nudged Hikaru within his side sharply.

"What was that for?" Hikaru asked with a deep frown, not quite fancying being nudged sharply by the elbow of his twin's. It wasn't until Kaoru tilted his head within Kyouya's direction did he notice the brief expression of distance glitter brightly behind those glasses, the dark-haired male's head turned within a different direction while his arms rested folded across his chest. The sudden quietness caused Kyouya to turn his head within the twins' direction and arch a single eyebrow.

"Hmm, why so quiet all of the sudden?"

"No reason!" The twins answered quickly in unison with a nervous laugh as they shook their heads and waved their hands about. Kyouya only shrugged his shoulders before returning his attention to his unfinished tea.

Somewhere along the day, Kyouya had parted from the devious Hitachiin twins only to run into Mori when he decided to do a bit of grocery shopping. Seeing the taller, indifferent man mad Kyouya feel at a bit of ease. It was a feeling that always washed over him when within the other's presences. He didn't have to be forced into talking about anything, simply because Mori didn't pry, let alone try to pry into his business and feelings. It was usually Kyouya that would come to Mori whenever he was in the good mood to rant and let off a bit of steam and frustration, but not today. Instead, he was picking up a bit of food for his apartment and it seemed that Mori was there to do the same. Instead of shopping by himself, he tagged along with Mori, asking if it was alright, only receiving a nod of his head. Afterwards, he bid the taller goodbye, yet before he could make it a good few steps away he was grasped by his forearm, stopping him within his tracks. He turned to look over his shoulder only to see Mori gaze at him with unreadable eyes.

"I'll drive you home."

Those were the only words that Mori spoke to him. Kyouya wasn't sure whether he was a bit stunned from the offer of a free ride – he could have waved down a cab like the other times his car was stuck within the shop – but he ended up following Mori anyway to his car, partially because Mori continued to keep his hold he had onto his forearm until they both reached the slick black car. The ride to Kyouya's apartment was silent, but comfortable none the less. He was free to change the radio station till his heart's content, but he didn't. He was even free to opening himself up to the other anytime he wanted to and rant about how he felt, but he didn't. Instead, he chose to gaze out of the window at the familiar scenery that they passed along the way to his apartment complex. And once Mori pulled up along the curb not too far from the entrance, Kyouya thanked Mori for the ride while giving the other a small, thankful smile. It was a smile that Mori couldn't help but return to himself as he watched Kyouya get out to retrieve his groceries from the backseat of his car and give a small wave before turning around to walk through the entrance of his apartment complex.

It didn't take Kyouya long to reach the floor was his apartment resided, but the thing that was taking him a bit of time to look for was his apartment key. Hey knew that he had slipped it within his pocket the moment he locked the door behind him earlier within the day. Where else could it be? There was the possibility that his key could have fallen out of his pocket anytime he was walking around at the mall with the twins, or at the grocery store with Mori, or even within Mori's car. That thought in mind caused Kyouya to groan loudly and slip his eyes closed momentarily. Now, standing in front of his assumed locked apartment, Kyouya couldn't help but glare dully at it, somehow blaming this incident all on Tamaki. Yes, if he wasn't so frustrated he wouldn't have misplaced his key. Blaming Tamaki for the reason he had misplaced his key made him feel a bit better – just the slightest. It brought a satisfied smirk to his lips before he looked from his left to his right. The halls were empty and well-lit, and seemed a bit disserted…which was a good thing, because Kyouya was afraid that he might have to resort to breaking into his own apartment. He shifted his bags of grocery to pull out his wallet and tug out one of his credit cards with his teeth. Holding the plastic card between his teeth, he slipped his wallet back into his pocket before setting work on slipping the card through the side slit of the door and working on twisting the knob. Yet, when he twisted the knob he discovered that his door was unlocked.

"That's odd." Kyouya murmured, a look of confusion easily spreading across his features. Looking from his left to his right once more, Kyouya slowly pushed open his door only to see that his apartment was well-lit, and the smell of something cooking instantly greeted his nostrils the moment he breathed in deeply. If he wasn't confused before, he surely was now. Someone was within his apartment – he had noticed the moment he took notice of a pair of shoes laying within a messy heap next to the door. He frowned deeply as he closed the door loudly, purposely. Whoever was within his apartment had dropped something in startle the moment Kyouya slammed his door closed.

"Ah! Merde," A foreign voice hissed, soon followed by a yelp and another dish falling to the floor. At this rate, Kyouya blinked. Did he hear…French? The only person he knew that spoke French was…

"Tamaki?" It was a crazy thought, to believe that maybe, just maybe, a certain blonde could possibly be within his kitchen doing god knows what. The hissed French words that were stringed within the same sentence with Japanese instantly came to a halt. Kyouya frowned deeply as he drew himself near to his kitchen when he didn't receive a reply. He was ready to defend himself it was some type of thief that was oddly cooking within his kitchen. Though he was ready at any given time to defend himself if the thief decided to attack him with any of his dishware, Kyouya was sure he would be ready, but he was ready for what greeted him the moment he stepped foot within the entryway of his kitchen. Instead, he nearly toppled to the floor as a mop of blond hair instantly clouded his vision and long arms instantly latched around his shoulders within a bear hug as the other called out his name brightly. The sudden 'attack' caused Kyouya to drop his grocery to the floor as he tried to regain his balance but only ended up stumbling around and finally tripping over something, sending him and the extra weight that weighed him down crashing to the floor in a heap of limbs tangled together. Expecting to fall instantly onto his back, Kyouya was turned so that he landed atop of the blonde that laughed brightly, even though he had taken the landing impact instead of Kyouya himself. Kyouya blinked, simply watching as the man beneath him laughed his heart out, failing to realize that the other's arms rested around his shoulders and slim waist – the same way he had hugged him just short moments ago that caused them to be in this position.

But his mind refused to acknowledge paying any heed to the position he was in, the way Tamaki held him at the current moment. Instead, he was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Tamaki, of all people, had managed to break into his apartment. And even as the blonde managed to calm his laughter and raise his twinkling amethyst eyes to lock with Kyouya's obsidian ones, Tamaki continued to smile brightly at Kyouya's somewhat stunned expression.

"I told you I would drop by and see you, didn't I?" Tamaki chuckled, taking in Kyouya's disheveled hair and askew glasses. He was expecting the other to be a bit happy by the surprise visit, or at least sound happy, but Kyouya wasn't saying anything and it the blonde to purse his lips within a pucker while he unwrapped his arm around Kyouya's shoulders to poke lightly at his cheek. "Okaa-saan~"

"How did you get in here?" Kyouya asked, instantly raising his hand to slap away Tamaki's hand that poked at tugged lightly at his cheek.

The blonde yelped lightly, pouting instantly. "Rough as usual, okaa-san," the blonde murmured, but he complied with answering his okaa-san's question. He shifted, raising his hips a bit so he could dig within his pocket. The action caused Kyouya blink and blush faintly at the feel of Tamaki's hips shifting against his momentarily, but he continued to watch the blonde as he frowned slightly before a sound of "aha!" airily passed through his lips, and before Kyouya knew it he was starring at the one object he was looking for.

"I found it near the door when I came up here some hours ago," Tamaki said, a sense of pride filling his words. "At first, I thought it was someone else's. But since you weren't answering my knocks, I thought I would see if the key unlocked your door or not. Turns out that it did! So, I just kind of sat around and waited for you to get back once I noticed you weren't really home. I thought I'd just wait, but I thought: 'hey, since Kyou-chan's not here, why not surprise okaa-san with dinner!' And –"Before Tamaki could explain himself any further, a fist instantly made its way downward to hit across the crown of his head.

"You..." Kyouya murmured darkly, glaring down at the idiot that babbled 'itai' over and over, rubbing at the top of his head while declaring okaa-san was so rough with him. He should have been mad, absolutely furious that Tamaki had took it upon himself to 'make himself home', but Kyouya couldn't resist the small smile that curved at the edges of his lips as he gazed down at the blonde that continued to whine childishly underneath him.

He could never stay mad at Tamaki for long, no matter how much he wanted to.

A/N;; So… this is WAY later than what I expected it to be. ;A; Life always gets in the way, sadly to say. My muse bunnies for the story just abandoned me for the longest, but they finally returned – which I am happy about. I missed my TamaKyou bunnies. D': Anyway, I had so many endings for this chapter. It was sad, really. I've rewrote it so many times, it's not even funny. I just sort of went with this one.

Anyway~ I want to thank the reviewers. Seriously guys, I've reread all of your comments while writing this. Your comments pushed me to finish this damned chapter that has been sitting unfinished in my computer for god knows how long. My muse bunnies left me around the time I was writing thins, and I just didn't know how to continue the chapter. But yeah, I love you guys so much – thank you so much for reading, and I hope I haven't lost all of you guys. D': That would make me sad.

Please review~! Reviews are like the best thing since sliced bread. Reviews = LOVE.

Until next time~

–CCB